Whether viewed through the lens of economics or health care, prevention programs make sense.
Yet they represent only a small fraction (just 4 percent) of what the U.S. spends on health care each year. In Maryland, this produces alarming results: the CDC states that as many as 60 percent of colorectal cancer deaths could be prevented if people 50 and over received regular screenings, and yet one in three adults over 50 have never had a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. Sixty-three percent of adults are either overweight or obese, and 73 percent of adults eat fewer than five fruits and vegetables per day.
Thankfully, the health care reform bill currently before Congress makes several key investments in preventive care, and those pieces of the larger bill must be maintained.
